In 1986, Stephen King was over horror. By then, he had given us killer teens, killer cars, killer cats, and killer vamps. No, despite the demand and the stack of receipts to prove it, The Master of Horror was hankering to close the door on the genre he conquered — only he didn’t see it […]
Author: Michael Roffman
Uncrossing the Controversy Surrounding ‘Basic Instinct’ [Halloweenies Podcast]
It’s the ’90s. Hollywood stars are hotter than ever, particularly Michael Douglas. The Oscar-winning producer and actor is in search of his next chapter after owning the latter half of the ’80s. He’s found it in a new erotic thriller from scribe Joe Eszterhas (Flashdance, Jagged Edge) and filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Total Recall). Together, […]
Stephen King News Roundup: ‘Salem’s Lot’, ‘Pet Sematary’ and ‘The Black Phone’ [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
Busy times in King’s Dominion. Seems as if we’re finally over the rumor mill on a number of Stephen King-related projects, which means it’s time for the Losers to put on their shades, rev up their Plymouth Fury convertible, and head to Hollywood King. It’s a freewheelin’ news episode that finds Losers Michael Roffman, Dan […]
‘Scream 3’ Is a Flawed Yet Prescient Time Capsule for Hollywood Horrors [Halloweenies Podcast]
“The past will come back to bite you in the ass. Whatever you think you know about the past, forget it. The past is not at rest. Any sins you think were committed in the past are about to break out and destroy you.” –Randy Meeks via videocassette tape Quiet on set! Production has resumed […]
‘Stand By Me’ Screenwriters on Bringing Stephen King to Tears [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
“When the movie was over, I hugged [Rob Reiner] because I was moved to tears, because it was so autobiographical.” —Stephen King to Rolling Stone, October 2014 The Losers have yet to leave Castle Rock. No, the sun is still out, there’s a breeze in the trees, and there isn’t a smokestack in sight for […]
‘Scream 3’ Also Couldn’t Escape the Wrath of Woodstock ’99 [Halloweenies Podcast]
Goodbye Windsor College, hello Hollywood! After several months studying Randy’s Recs, the Halloweenies have arrived in Tinseltown, where it’s lights, camera, and … stab! Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro, to be more specific. Production is underway on the highly anticipated sequel, and the hype is quite deadly. Don’t let the props fool you. If you […]
EPIX’s “Chapelwaite” Sinks Its Teeth Into the Gothic Side of Stephen King [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
Welcome to Preacher’s Corners, where the sky is grey, the sea is green, and the people are blue. Beware, though, for there’s a curse across this small New England town. A curse that can be traced all the way up the road, past the pines, and behind the mansion doors of the creaky Chapelwaite manor. […]
‘Stand By Me’ at 35: Stephen King’s Coming-of-Age Story Hits Harder With Age [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
“I was 12 going on 13 the first time I saw a dead human being. It happened in the summer of 1959, a long time ago, but only if you measure in terms of years. I was living in a small town in Oregon called Castle Rock. There were only 1,281 people. But to me, […]
SK Tours of Maine Invites You to Stephen King’s Dominion [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
The standpipe. The sematary. The Jade. The gates. The world of Stephen King is vast and infinite, at least on paper. In reality, King’s Dominion is nestled snuggly within Bangor, Maine, the third largest city in the seaside state and arguably its greatest source for tourism. After all, thousands of Constant Readers descend upon the […]
[Book Review] Stephen King Snipes Our Heart With ‘Billy Summers’
Stephen King respects pulp. Scroll through his Twitter feed long enough, and you’ll see that the best-selling author lives for hard-boiled stories centered around characters with guns in their hands, heat in their hearts, and principles on their mind. Bosch, The Good Fight, Big Sky, Designated Survivor, Chance, the list goes on. Hell, one cursory […]
‘Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI’ Cast and Crew Reunite for 35th Anniversary [Video]
When writer-director Tom McLoughlin grabbed the wheel of the Friday the 13th franchise, he took it in a completely new direction. Five sequels in — and particularly following the polarizing reception to 1985’s Friday the 13th: A New Beginning — he knew the slasher series needed a fresh take. Something that could recalibrate the Jason […]
Stephen King Wrangled the Beast Within the “Lord of the Flies” [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.” There’s been a wreck. A British aeroplane has crashed on a remote island, leaving the Losers stranded somewhere in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. Hope is dwindling, but the weather is beautiful, the vegetation is plentiful, and there’s even livestock roaming around. In an effort […]
Before ‘Scream 2’, ‘Demons’ Got Meta in the Aisles [Halloweenies Podcast]
Before the Halloweenies head to Hollywood in August for Scream 3, they have some film courses to complete this summer at Windsor College. In June, they visited Mark Rosman’s 1982 American slasher The House on Sorority Row. For July, they’re conjuring Demons. More specifically, Lamberto Bava’s 1985 Italian meta blood bath. Fueled by a star-studded […]
“Castle Rock”: Unofficial Season 3 Audio Drama Resurrects Stephen King’s Finest in Final Act [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
In case you missed it, The Losers’ Club were mysteriously given a decaying, coffee-stained teleplay for the lost Season 3 premiere of Hulu’s Castle Rock. Rather than keep it to themselves, your humble hosts brought the script to life in the best way they know how: By turning it into a podcast with no affiliation whatsoever to […]
Finding Stephen King at the End of Fear Street [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
Curses. Mysteries. Murder. The streets of Shadyside are stained with blood and the teens are always in danger. This is the perilous world of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street, the ’90s young adult series that inspired an entire generation of readers to vanish into the stacks in search of the spooky. Naturally, many of them became […]